The creation of a vibrant new educational and community campus in Ayr has won an award commendation at the Scottish Design Awards. The listed building was fitted out by Deanestor, one of the UK’s leading school furniture specialists.
Ayr Grammar and Archive Centre accommodates a primary school, early years centre, community arts centre, and is the new home for Ayrshire Archives and Registry which houses repositories for historical records and the Ayrshire fine art collection.
The £16m riverside project for South Ayrshire Council was delivered by hub South West Scotland, and main contractor Morrison Construction. The architects were BDP.
Deanestor designed, manufactured and installed a range of furniture solutions for the primary school and early years centre including benching, storage units, adjustable shelving, shoebox units, cloakroom benches, as well as loose furniture such as seating and tables. Deanestor also provided bespoke metal and wood shelving, solid surface worktops, and storage cabinets for the adjacent archive centre and registry.
All the furniture reflects the neutral colour palette for the scheme’s interior, using light grey and wood-effect finishes. This would allow colours to be expressed in children’s artwork.
According to Allan Cunningham, Operations Director at Morrison Construction: “Ayr Grammar follows Deanestor’s successful delivery of furniture and fitout contracts on other award-winning education projects for Morrison, including Barony Campus, and we are working with them on a number of new school schemes. Their team performed well, and we are very pleased with the finished building.”
Lindsey Mitchell, Architect Director at BDP said: “This project is an exemplar of how the re-use of historic buildings is relevant to contemporary education. It is a fantastic refurbishment, and we hope it will be a catalyst for further regeneration of this historic area in the town of Ayr.”
The historically rich site has been the location of a school for over 400 years and the current building has been a local landmark since the 1800s. The 5,000sqm regeneration project has created a modern learning environment with capacity for more than 430 children and includes innovative indoor and outdoor spaces, and a multi-use games facility.
